Quick Breads

1. Quick Breads Objectives: Describe the various types of quick breads………. Compare the methods for making quick bread batters and doughs Demonstrate the preparation of muffins, quick breads, and biscuits

2. Making Quick Breads People have been making bread for more than 10,000 years and seem to have come up with nearly that many variations. From pitas to tortillas, pumpernickel to croissants, there’s a bread for every occasion and every taste. Quick Breads are leavened by agents that allow immediate baking – hence the name “quick”.

3. Ingredients in Quick Breads • Flour – Main ingredient, gluten protein and starch produce structure • Fat – liquid or solid, produces tenderness • Liquid – produces gluten, activates starch and chemical leavening agents, helps form structure • Leavening agents – air, steam, baking soda and/or baking powder. Produce rise • Salt – adds flavor and strengthens structure Additionally used, but not always… • Eggs – add flavor, richness and texture. Help produce structure • Sugar – adds sweetness and holds moisture.

4. Types of Quick Breads The two most important things in preparing quick breads are the consistency of the batter and the cooking temperature. Batters are mixed only to the point of moistening the dry ingredients. Thinner pour batters are used to make pancakes, crepes, waffles and popovers. Thicker drop batters are used to produce muffins, Boston brown bread, corn bread, hush puppies, tea bread and dumplings. Doughs contain more flour and are kneaded briefly and are used to make unleavened bread, biscuits and scones.

5. Basic Quick Bread Methods • Muffin Method: 1. Wisk the dry ingredients together. • A bitter taste or uneven rising can result from improper distribution of the leavening agent. 2. In a separate bowl, combine the liquid ingredients • Accurate measuring of all ingredients in important. Incorrect measuring can alter the liquid to dry ratio. 3. Form a well in the dry ingredients. Add the liquids all at once. 4. Stir the dry and wet ingredients together with only a few strokes, until the dry ingredients are just moistened but still lumpy. • Over mixing develops too much gluten resulting in a tough product. It also allows the carbon dioxide to escape which will result in a poor rise and tunneling.

6. Mixing Method #2 • Biscuit Method: 1. Wisk the dry ingredients together. 2. Cold, solid fat is cut in with a pastry blender or two knives until particles the size of rice grains are formed. • Work quickly so that the fat stays cold and is coated with dry ingredients to create a flaky texture. 3. Form a well in the dry ingredients. Add the liquids and toss to combine and form a dough. 4. Bring the dough together into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Knead briefly, about half a minute until the stickiness is gone. • Over kneading causes toughness because of excess gluten formation, and allows CO2 to escape, resulting in compact, less tender biscuits. 5. Once kneaded the dough is rolled out on a lightly floured surface to the desired thickness: ¼ inch for plain biscuits, ½ inch for tea biscuits, 1 inch for shortcakes. It is then cut with a biscuit cutter that has been lightly dipped in flour. 6. The dough rounds are placed on an ungreased cookie sheet 1 ½ inch apart for crisp sides or just touching for tender sides.

7. Biscuit variation • Biscuits can also be made using a drop dough. • This dough has a bit more liquid and is not kneaded • The sticky dough is dropped by the spoonful onto prepared baking sheets. • This method produces a rougher more mealy biscuit. • This preparation is also used to create dumplings used as a topping on casseroles or onto fruit filling to make a cobbler.

8. Mixing Method #3 • The Creaming Method 1. Place softened butter, margarine, or shortening in a bowl. Add the sugars, spices, and salt and beat until light and fluffy and air is entrained throughout the mixture. • Do not let the butter or margarine get warm enough that it approaches the melting point. Friction from the mixing, especially with an electric mixer, will increase the temperature. 2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.3. Add any liquid ingredients and stir lightly.4. Stir or whisk the remaining dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. 5. Add them to the mixture and stir until just combined.

9. Baking Quick Breads • For most quick breads the pans are greased or lined with paper, filled two-thirds full, and baked between 350° and 450° F. • The bread is done when it is brown and passes the toothpick test – insert a wooden toothpick straight up and down into the center and immediately withdraw it. If there is no batter clinging to the toothpick, the bread is done. • Quick Breads should be cooled in the pan for about 5 minutes, then removed to a cooling rack to cool completely.

10. A variety of Quick breads • Pancakes are made from pour batters. The griddle temperature is key in producing a light, fluffy pancake. Flick a few drops of water onto the pan, if it pops and “dances” across the surface the griddle is just right. Gently pour ¼ cup batter onto the griddle. When bubbles start to appear over most of the cakes surface, the underside will be delicately brown and it is time to flip. • For best results, turn only once and do not press down on the cake.

11. Crepes are used to wrap other ingredients. The fillings can be sweet or savory. • A blintz is a crepe – the French word for thin pancake – that has been filled then sautéed. • Lacking baking soda or powder used in pancakes, crepes are much thinner. • There is also a great deal more liquid than flour in a crepe batter. The batter is allowed to sit overnight so that the starch in the flour can absorb the liquid.

12. Waffles are made from a pour batter that has more fat than pancake batter. • Many recipes for waffles call to fold beaten egg whites into the batter to produce crispness and lightness. • A waffle iron is necessary to produce this quick bread.

13. Boston brown bread – unlike most other breads Boston brown bread is made with rye and graham flours and is steamed rather than baked. • Corn bread – the flour mixture in cornbread is a combination of wheat flour and corn meal. The pan should be heated before filling with the batter when baking corn bread. • Hushpuppies – a variation of corn bread, hushpuppies are made from a drop batter. They are shaped into rounds or oblong balls and deep-fried in a skillet. • Coffee cakes – Best served immediately after baking, coffee cakes usually contain fruit, nuts or are topped with a streusel or sugar topping. • Scones – Scones contain eggs and milk or cream, making them a richer version of biscuits. They usually have fruit mixed into the dough.